Date: Thu, 1 Dec 1994 15:49:31 -0500
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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release November 30, 1994
WORLD AIDS DAY, 1994
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
On this World AIDS Day, we recognize the countless
determined individuals who have provided assistance to those
affected by HIV and AIDS, and we redouble our efforts to work
with our international partners and to confront the enormous
challenges that remain. Here and around the world, people are
reaching out to those who are living with HIV and AIDS and are
joining the fight to stop this epidemic. The theme of this
year's commemoration, "Families and AIDS," is especially
fitting. When one person suffers, the entire global family
is affected. Today, we pledge to keep faith with the thousands
of people living with HIV and AIDS and their families -- their
mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, their friends,
neighbors, and loved ones.
In slightly more than 13 years, AIDS has claimed the lives
of more than 250,000 Americans -- nearly five times as many men
and women as were killed in the Korean War. If current trends
continue, by the end of this decade we will have lost half a
million people to this insidious disease, more than our Nation's
total losses in World War II. The World Health Organization
estimates that 30 to 40 million people worldwide will have been
infected with HIV by the end of the decade. The problem of HIV
and AIDS is global, and it is one of staggering proportions.
The United States will continue to work with our global partners
in the worldwide battle against HIV and AIDS.
Here at home in response to the epidemic, hundreds of
community-based organizations have devoted themselves to provide
medical care, social and support services, respite care, meal
delivery, and education and prevention programs to persons with
HIV or AIDS. Together with those they serve, the men and women
of these organizations -- most of whom are volunteers -- are the
heroes of our common struggle.
In the past two years, our Nation has reenergized its
response to HIV and AIDS. At a time of zero budget growth,
funding for AIDS programs has been increased by 30 percent.
AIDS research funding has risen by 25 percent, and money going
to grants under the Ryan White CARE Act has been increased by
82 percent, bringing vital services to thousands of men, women,
and children in need. Our research efforts have been
reorganized and refocused, and they have already begun to
produce results. When scientists discovered that treatment with
AZT could sharply reduce the risk of HIV transmission from
mothers to their unborn children, the Government acted quickly
both to provide women and their health care professionals with
new guidelines and to change the labeling on that drug.
Already, we are saving lives.
On World AIDS Day, we rededicate ourselves to the battle
against HIV and AIDS. Our Government must continue to do its
part, including reauthorizing the Ryan White CARE Act and
continuing to enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Business and community leaders must push forward in their
remarkable efforts to educate people everywhere. And every one
of us must strive to reach out to those who are living with HIV
and AIDS to make their paths a little smoother, to make their
hearts a little lighter, and to make their lives a little
richer.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in
me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby
proclaim December 1, 1994, as "World AIDS Day." I invite the
Governors of the States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,
officials of other territories subject to the jurisdiction of
the United States, and the American people to join me in
reaffirming our commitment to combat HIV and AIDS and to reach
out with compassion to those living with this disease.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand
this thirtieth day of November, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the two hundred and nineteenth.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON